A Change of Mind
by Reparata
Summary: Huehuecotyl was the Toltec god of hearth and home. He later became the god of trickery and deceit for the Olmecs and the Aztecs. Beckett and Castle run afoul of all of his incarnations. 'The world is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel' - Shakespeare Rating changed to 'M'
1. Castle's Exile

Switched

Picks up in season 3 prior to the finale. I own nothing at all.

This is a completed fic that I've kept in the back of my mind and on my thumb drive, reworking and editing. Everyone is alive and reasonably well. Josh is still in the picture.

Note: first 2 chapters are T then on to M for the remainder just to be safe.

Reparata

* * *

Chapter1

Crime Scene  
Museum of Meso-American History

"Castle, that's the stupidest theory I think you've _ever_ put out there. It doesn't even begin to explain the facts in evidence."

Kate Beckett was about two seconds away from smacking that smirk off his face. He'd been getting on her last nerve lately, every day in fact, and today of all days he has to be in one of his wacky moods when she's already stressed with her boyfriend's latest demand that they 'move in' together or 'move on'.

"How else do you explain the total absence of blood in the victim. You heard Lanie. He's been drained of all his blood. There are no major traumas, just those one-inch incisions on both sides of his neck. It's got to be a vam – "

"Castle, don't you dare say it. Don't even think it if you want to be part of this investigation. Come over here, you idiot!" Kate grabs Castle by the upper arm, momentarily surprised by firmness and definition of the bicep she'd grabbed.

She leads him away from the taped crime scene and into a less crowded portion of the exhibit. The heels of her boots make impatient clicking sounds on the hardwood floor and she spins him around to face her anger.

"Look, I get it. I really do. You're a writer and a very imaginative one at that but this isn't some fictional situation, Castle, it's real. That man has a family and I can't just say – "

"I didn't say it was a vamp – " she shoots him a warning look and he continues, "but a that-which-I'm-not-allowed-to-utter wannabee, that's all."

Kate rests her hand on the extended hand of a carved statue of an obscure Aztec God and Castle copies her unwittingly by leaning his entire arm on the outstretched palm of the statue. She stares at him, wondering, not for the first time, what she did in a past life to be deserving of such punishment? Sure, he's her partner but sometimes she wonders what the hell goes on behind those baby blues.

Castle glares at her, wondering why he even bothers to try and open up her mind to possibilities. He scoffs and thinks that her mind is a closed metal box, welded inside a steel tank that's been sealed and then painted over and buried in 10 feet of cement. If it isn't _her_ idea then it isn't worth crap and always ridiculed or dismissed out of hand.

Neither of them notices the subtle change in the hues of the colorful ceramic inlays that represent a belt around the grinning statue's midriff. Neither one is willing to even blink in this confrontation that is becoming more and more commonplace between them.

"Castle, go home. I don't want you involved in this case. Your input, such as it is, is counterproductive to this investigation. I'll call you when I have a case you can really be of help with. Until then, don't call me; I'll call you."

"Fine. Mark my words, Detective. I'm right about this…"

Kate snapped and her voice was loud and angry and hateful. If someone played a recording of her voice back, she would deny that it was her saying such terrible things and certainly not to Castle.

"You're a writer, Castle, maybe even a good one, so why don't you go and do what you're good at and let the police professionals do the thing we're good at. Castle, get the hell out of my crime scene. Don't come back. Your shadow days are over!" Her voice seemed to get louder as her little speech progressed until she was yelling at him.

She wanted to take back those words the second they left her mouth but it was too late. She could see the impact of each hateful syllable as it struck him where he was most vulnerable – his self-image.

"Rick…I'm sorry…" Her heart-felt plea was spoken to his rapidly retreating back. She suddenly became aware of the silence that enveloped this part of the museum. Everyone was standing around staring at her. Some obviously disapproved while others simply looked embarrassed. To those who didn't know her, she looked haughty and pretentious.

Lanie Parish, in particular, looked at her with disapproval and thinly veiled disgust. From her position on her knees next to the corpse, she glared at her best friend and then turned her gaze back to the victim.

"Detective Beckett, if you can tear yourself away from the scene of _your_ crime, I can fill you in on what happened to our victim, Mr. Burke."

Lanie's voice cut through the mental haze that surrounded Beckett like one of her surgical scalpels cut through flesh.

Kate walked over and squatted down beside Lanie who reached up and yanked the lapel of her red leather jacket and almost pulled her off her booted feet.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing talking to Castle that way? He was _right_ about the cause of death. See those faint, raspberry-looking raised abrasions around each of the slices? Those are from a vacuum tube. Someone drained Mr. Burke's blood after knocking him out and hanging him by his heels from the marquee. He was alive almost the entire time, Detective."

"Oh, no…" She dropped her forehead to the palm of her hand. This day just kept getting better and better.

"Oh, yes…" Lanie knew that Kate was the queen of empty relationships. She only kept a guy around as long as he was as uninvolved and uncommitted as she was but the second he showed or wanted commitment, she was outta there like her tail was on fire.

She wondered if maybe Castle had asked her…nah, never happen. He was too damned smart to go there after all he'd seen these past three years.

* * *

He slammed the door of the loft and stalked into his study and slammed the door. He opened up the liquor caddy that seemed to spend more and more time in his study than out where it belonged. Surveying its contents, he selected a dusty bottle of vintage Scotch and poured three fingers of it into a cut-glass tumbler and flopped down in his chair.

He opened up his laptop and pulled up his word processor and typed a brief letter to Roy Montgomery, printed it out and signed it. Still angry, perhaps angrier than before, he left the loft and went down to the lobby and had the doorman hail him a cab.

He told the cabbie to wait and threw him $20 for his patience and then stalked up the granite steps to the lobby of the 12th Precinct. He nodded to the desk sergeant and took the stairs to the 4th floor.

Montgomery's office was empty so he placed the letter in the middle of his blotter and left the same way he came. Still furious, he gave the cabbie the address of _The Old Haunt_ and leaned back into the seat and thought about what he'd do next with his life.

A/N: Will post the second installment tomorrow (Monday).

Reparata 6/17/2012


	2. Something's Missing

Future chapters will be classified as 'M' for obvious reasons.

* * *

Beckett pulled up in front of Castle's apartment building, threw the 'Official NYPD Business' placard on the dash and walked rapidly into the lobby and then to the elevator. She wasn't certain what she was going to say but 'I'm sorry' were going to be the first words out of her mouth.

She walked swiftly through the lobby and took the elevator to his floor and marched directly to the door. She could do this. She _had_ to do this. He was her best friend, her partner.

She knocked and knocked but no one answered the door. Feeling a bit like a spy, she took out her cell and speed dialed his number and listened through the door. No ringing. Shit. He wasn't home.

She left him a voicemail asking him to call her when he got the message. She wanted to talk about what happened at the crime scene.

Satisfied, she drove home to her apartment. Josh was coming over and she had the feeling that tonight was going to be the end of Josh and Kate. She had never lived with a man. She would not give up her independence or apartment and she certainly didn't want him around her place when she needed her space.

Nope. Not going to happen. He wanted to 'move in' and she wanted to 'move on'. He gave her his choices and she'd made hers.

* * *

Castle

The bartender got Castle into a cab and sent him home. He liked his boss but tonight he saw a side of Richard Castle he'd rather not have known existed. He was a mean drunk. He'd seen the boss drunk before but he'd always been the same affable guy but not tonight. Tonight he'd been anything but affable. He'd been downright scary.

Castle awoke to the shrilling noise of a cell phone. '_Not my phone…oh, shit! Did I bring someone home from the bar?'_

He fumbled with the phone and answered it. "Castle." His voice sounded squeaky, like he had a sore throat or something and it turned his announcement of his name into a question.

"No, sorry, Beckett, it's Esposito. We got a body, boss. 4th & Lexmore, behind the diner. Messy and old, so wear your old clothes." A pause. "Beckett, you get that?"

'_Beckett?' _ Jesus, did he hook up with Beckett last night? Is that why her phone's here? He rolled over to wake her but stopped. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. He dropped the phone and screamed…a definitely girly scream.

He could hear Esposito's concerned voice shouting her name and he picked up the phone and said, "Sorry. A rat, a really, really big rat…"

"It's New York, Beckett. Think of them as hairless squirrels and you'll be fine. Throw it some left-over takeout just to be safe. See you in 30."

Rick threw back the sheets and comforter and hissed when his bare feet hit the cold wooden floor. He got up and walked toward the bathroom, totally freaked out. His center of gravity was off and he felt slightly top-heavy, just a little, not much at all, in fact, but enough to let him know things were…different.

"OH SHIT!" He looked at Kate Beckett in the mirror. He opened his mouth and so did she. He ran his tongue around his lips and so did she…only she did it so much better. Out of habit, while his mind searched for a way to wake up from this dream, he reached down to perform the obligatory morning scratch and patted his crotch…they were…gone! The Boys were missing in action!

He looked down and had to lean forward a bit to see past the two bulges on his chest that masked his view. He pulled the red silk sleep pants he wore away from his waist and gawked. Where there should have been a respectable-sized penis was…nothing.

He fell down on his ass and clutched his crotch searching for his missing…member. His breathing was hurried and he felt warm all over. Really warm. And sore. His butt hurt from the abrupt collision with the tiled bathroom floor. He wiped his nose with the sleeve of his long-sleeved shirt and sniffed back a tear.

Shower. He needed a shower. He pulled the t-shirt over his head and stopped. He looked down and saw the prettiest pair of boobs he'd ever seen. Beckett's boobs. He was a guy so of course he had to cup them and lift them up slightly, rub his thumbs across the nipples and then stare in amazement as they pebbled up and then hardened into hard fleshy thimbles. '_Oh, that feels nice…'_

Kate Beckett smiled back at him from the mirror and he suddenly remembered Esposito's call. _'We'll definitely get back to these little fun bags later…oh, yeah.'_

What the hell. If this was a dream, he was going to maximize his knowledge of Beckett, probably in ways she wouldn't imagine.


	3. Shock & Awe

Beckett

She woke up sicker than a dog, with a headache that felt like someone was squeezing her head in a vise equipped with spikes.

'_Just what I need. The damned flu!' _She leaped out of bed to run to the bathroom and ran – into a wall. It was dark in her room and she was holding a hand across her mouth, knowing that at any minute she would be spewing chunks all over. She saw a light under a door and ran for it.

She threw open the door, squeezed her eyes shut as the light seemed to initiate minor temblors in her head and found the commode by the simple means of running into it.

She hopped around on one foot, cursing in all kinds of languages, hoping her toe wasn't broken. Dropping to her knees, she lifted the commode seat and threw up unimaginable quantities of foul smelling digestive juices flavored with Scotch, lots of Scotch.

When she was sure that she'd emptied out her entire digestive tract, she stood at the sink and ran cold water and splashed some on her face and rinsed her mouth out. Yech!

Kate reached to the right for a towel and reached and…_what the hell? Where's the towel rack?_

She opened her eyes and gasped. This wasn't her bathroom! This was…not her bathroom. She looked around and then caught a glimpse of someone in the mirror.

"Castle!" What the hell are you doing in here?" If she'd been less hung over and more alert, she'd have noticed that her voice was different and that Castle's mouth was moving in synch with her words.

She ran a hand through her hair and grimaced. And then looked in the…mirror. _'What the hell…'_

Beckett touched 'her' face as did Castle's reflection. She ran fingers through 'her' hair. It was soft and not at all greasy like she thought it would be from all the 'hair care products' she thought he must use to get the look he had.

She had to pee. She pulled down the boxers part way. They seemed hung up on something…_'Whoa! Look at that!'_ She'd seen men's penises before but not from this particular vantage point. She used two fingers to move it back into the boxers and pulled them the rest of the way down and then sat down to do her business…and discovered standing up made a lot of sense when you're a guy and it's the first thing in the morning and you're sporting a bladder-driven 'morning wood'.

She stood, hands on hips, and let fly, sighing but then gasping when she saw that the stream was splashing everywhere like a damned unattended fire hose.

She grabbed it and pointed it at the toilet bowl and finished up. She opened the vanity looking for something to clean up the mess.

Done scrubbing, she pulled off the t-shirt and got into Castle's shower. Amazing. Six shower heads and a handheld shower wand. She adjusted the temperature and then washed the body, quickly discovering that certain motions caused physical changes.

The process of washing 'it' caused pleasurable and surprising changes. She tried not to laugh but it was funny how it stuck up towards the ceiling like a snake, a rather thick and stout snake. She had touched one (or more) of them before but this was totally different.

Realizing what she was doing, she shuddered and turned the faucet to COLD and the swelling went down.

Done with her discoveries and as clean as she could get his body, she got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her waist and then laughed out loud. It looked like the front of the towel…

'It' was back and now it wouldn't go away. It just stuck out there and no matter what she did, including flicking the head like you'd flick a piece of lint off your shoulder, nothing worked. Things were getting tense and she felt an ache like she'd never felt before _down there._ No wonder guys were so intent on getting laid. The pain was a motivator.

She sat on the bed and thought the situation through. She was in Castle's mind so his mind was in…shit!

She grabbed Castle's cell and called herself. If what she thought was happening were true, she'd know the minute he answered her cell.


	4. Demonstrating Restraint

A little longer than planned.

Reparata

* * *

Beckett's Apartment

Castle could handle the thong but the bra defeated him and aggravated the crap out of him. He could get one off in less time that it took to think about it but he'd never had to put one on before.

He loaded her breasts into the cups of the black lace bra but couldn't get his hands together behind his back and the damned shoulder straps kept slipping down his arms. Grrrrr. Finally giving up, he decided that Kate Beckett would go braless today. Give the boys a thrill.

Beckett's cell rang and he answered. He knew it was her calling from the caller ID. If he was Kate, then she was him. Wow!

He answered as if he were Kate Beckett. Fucking with her mind was fun and she was so damned smart that the opportunities to do so were few and far between.

"Beckett. What do you want, Castle?" _'Damn! That sounded just like pissed-off-Beckett! Am I good or what?'_

"Ah, I, um, well, how are you feeling this morning, Detective?" Kate was caught off guard with the terse and apparently pissed way 'Beckett' answered the phone and her lame response only served to piss 'Beckett' off more.

"Castle, I've got a body to handle. What do you really want?"

"Ah, nothing. Sorry to have bothered you. Have a nice day." _'Have a nice day? Lame, Kate, really lame.'_

* * *

She hung up the phone more confused and concerned than ever. She was here, in Castle's body, but she was also in hers…so where was Castle?

'_Do I really sound like that when I talk with him? Am I really that…waspish and bitchy? Suppose he'd been calling to apologize? Do I even deserve an apology after what I said to me? Grrrr. I'm talking about myself to myself…oh, my head.'_

Castle sat on the bed, trying to figure out just what to wear. He made his decision but then stopped and realized…hair. Beckett's anal about her hair.

He went into the bathroom, pretended the image in the mirror was a young Alexis and combed her hair into a pony tail and then went in search of her pistol, badge and car keys. He was really proud of himself. He'd only fallen once in her treacherous high-heeled boots.

"I'm late. I think this warrants the use of the lights and siren!" He pulled out into traffic and hit the lights and siren. This was almost as good as sex!

* * *

Much Later

It had been one hell of a long day and Rick, in his persona as Kate, was dragging. His feet hurt, his belly was telling him that it needed food, and the damned case was going nowhere.

He unlocked the Kate's apartment door, threw keys into the bowl on the tabletop and hung up the leather duster. It might have looked sexy as hell but it was heavy as hell also. Relieved of its burden, she felt her body 'straighten' knowing it was all in his head.

Rick pulled open Beckett's refrigerator door and almost gagged. He could identify takeout containers from his favorite Chinese restaurant that _he'd_ brought over 3 weeks before when he responded to one of Kate's 'Castle, we need to talk' invitations. He couldn't exactly remember what that particular session had been about but it marked the beginning of the decline of Caskett to Beckett/Castle and then to Beckett without Castle.

He filled the bathtub with hot water after pouring in some scented bath oil. If he was 'borrowing' this body, he'd make damned sure he returned it in better shape than he'd found it.

He ignored his dirty mind as he efficiently stripped Kate's body of its clothing. _This isn't exactly the scenario I'd envisioned when I undressed Beckett. She wouldn't be alone for one thing. _

Kate's body eased into the hot water and he felt some of the tension in her muscles relax. His thoughts ran back over the day he'd just endured.

Earlier

Castle killed the lights and siren a block from the crime scene and then pulled into the pile of squad, ESU and coroner's vehicles. Stepping out, he let her high-heeled leather boots find a solid purchase before getting out of the car. He'd already fallen once trying to walk in the dangerous footwear. _How the hell does she manage to run in these?_

'Beckett' wore a pair of tight black slacks and a white turtle neck with her mother's ring on it's chain and her dad's watch on her wrist. Her badge was affixed to her belt and her weapon rested high on her hip. A long black leather duster completed Beckett's 'look'.

A uniformed officer held up the yellow police ribbon and smiled. "Lookin' good today, Beckett…where's Castle?"

Beckett smiled a tight smile that stifled further inquiries and walked over to where Esposito and Ryan stood, tincture of menthol dabbed around their nostrils. The white pasty residue tipped Beckett off that this one would be nasty.

"Wait, boss…" he interrupted her and dabbed some of the scent-killer under and around her nostrils. "There, now we won't have to have a repeat of Ryan hurling his breakfast all over."

"Esposito, you would have gagged too if you had…"

"Enough. What do you have for me?" He almost laughed. He had Beckett down to a T. He waited for Ryan to take out his notebook and begin his spiel.

Lanie Parrish watched her best friend go through the motions. Beckett had been quiet and unfocused at the crime scene earlier that morning and Lanie had decided that enough was enough. This thing she and Castle had was amusing to watch until she got ugly with him, like at the museum, and then it was damned painful.

Lanie liked Rick Castle and until Javier came along, she had thought seriously about mixing her dark chocolate with his smooth…well, Javier _had_ come along so no more daydreaming about what might have been.

"Morning, Lanie, what do you have for me on our victim?" _Keep it simple and business-like. Don't stray from the crime. Keep focused. Avoid, deflect, deny anything of a personal nature._

"I sent DNA samples to the lab downtown. It'll be a few days. ESU found nothing in the diner to help ID the body. Rats gnawed the fingertips and other body parts, so no prints. I can probably give you an age range, 40-60, based on dentures and an old broken arm that feels fully calcified."

"Okay. I guess we wait. The guys found no witnesses and the ATM at the corner was useless. The camera's records were overwritten by newer images. The oldest we have is 30 hours prior to discovery so…we wait."

Castle hoped that sounded like something Beckett would say. He could hear her say it in his mind so, yeah, it sounded 'authentically Beckett'.

"Kate, have you heard from Castle?" Attack.

"Yeah, he called me at 5:15 this morning as I was getting ready to roll out and meet you guys at the body site. He just wanted to know how I was. Lame. It was 5:15 in the morning. How did he think I'd be?" Parry. Counterattack.

"Maybe he wanted to open up a dialogue, Kate. Try and mend fences. You were brutal to him at the museum. You should have been the one to try and talk first but I suppose that's not in your relationship manual, is it?"

"Castle and I are not in a relationship, Lanie. I have Josh and that's enough. Why don't you people mind your own business? I don't bring Josh around the precinct because it's where I work, Lanie. I don't talk about him here because it's where I work. I don't have relationships at work. Is there anything else?"

"You had Demming and you certainly 'brought it to work'. Damn, Kate Beckett, you are such a hypocrite. You shoved Demming in Castle's face and then you hid Josh from your friends, from _me_, for how long? You know what, Beckett? You don't deserve a sweet and caring man like Richard Castle. You deserve just what you got, girlfriend – casual, uninvolved sex with someone who's never around when you need him…"

"He was there when I needed him after the freezer. He stayed instead of going to Haiti."

"And who was with you in that freezer, Kate? Who shared his warmth and held you? Richard freaking Castle, that's who, and you didn't even check on him. You just strolled away with your 'here-today-gone-tomorrow' Josh. Well, Castle's gone now. Hope you're satisfied."

He watched Lanie storm away and get into the Medical Examiner's van. She'd gotten quite loud near the end and he felt that everyone was looking at 'Beckett'.

_Well, that could have gone better but I never knew that Lanie felt so strongly about Beckett and me. She's good, that one, really good. 'Richard freaking Castle', indeed._

He could feel Esposito and Ryan staring at 'her' and so he turned and snapped, "We wait for the lab results and DNA. Hopefully we'll get a match if he's in the system. Let's head back to the barn, boys. This one, just like the Vampire case, is on hold pending further results."

"Or another body drops with all the blood drained out of it. Yeah, this one's a dead end for sure."

No one commented on her use of 'Vampire' when she'd banished Castle for even suggesting the possibility of a 'wannabe'. Ryan nudged Esposito and the two walked to their car to make the drive back to the Precinct.

Castle washed Kate's body efficiently and quickly and tried to ignore the tingling in her nipples as he ran the soft washcloth over her breasts.

He was a guy and these were a great set of tits and he rubbed a fingertip around each of her aureoles and felt the little bumps enlarge. He could feel a tingling sensation between her legs and smiled. He'd made love to many a woman but had never understood just what it was that aroused them. He felt her lips pull back in a smile. Castle was going back to school with a teacher that provided real-time feedback!


	5. Pissing off the Pumpkin

RevSwitched5

Kate had rehashed everything that happened last night that could possibly have caused this incredible transfer of 'her' into Castle. What was even more incredible was that 'she' was still 'her' while 'she' was also Castle.

She'd spent an enormous amount of time wondering if Castle was dead and that this was her penance.

"Dad, are you awake yet?" _Alexis! Oh, crap. What am I gonna do?_

"Captain Montgomery called on the house phone. Says he has to talk with you right now. Should I tell him that you will call back?"

"No, I'll – I'll take it. Thanks, uh, Pumpkin." She doesn't know if she sounded like him but she sure hoped so. She walked down stairs, almost stumbling in her haste. She wasn't used to this body and it's odd distribution of weight.

"Hello, Captain. To what do I owe the honor?" She didn't even _know_ that Castle had a 'house phone'.

"I read your letter, Rick. Look, we've been friends for years and have been at each other's place for dinner and my kids know you as well as any man in their lives but man…have you lost your fucking mind? I know it's hard, man, but you can't do this. She needs you even if she's too damned self-centered and self-absorbed to admit it."

"Captain Montgomery, I don't think you understand…"

"Oh, I understand. She thinks she knows it all, thinks only she can solve a crime, thinks you're just good for coffee and a few laughs but we, you and I, both know that's not true."

"It's not?" There is a hint of incredulity in his voice, okay, her voice.

"Hell no. Look, she's a brilliant detective and is great with the grieving survivors but that's about it with Beckett. She's killed more relationships than you know about, Rick, and I guess she killed this one before it even started. Surely she knows it's not about the books any longer? She can't be that self-absorbed. No one could."

"It's not about the books?" Again, the lilting tone that make it sound like a question.

Quickly she restated, "I mean it's not." Flatter tone, no question. Good.

"Take the letter back, Rick. You two are perfect for one another. Don't be a stupid fool and walk away from someone who completes you like no one else ever could."

She racked her brain for a response, anything that will make Roy divulge more of 'Kate Beckett's flaws and foibles'.

She takes a stab in the dark and says, "She has someone 'completing her', quite frequently, Roy. His name is Josh, remember?"

There's a sigh on the other end of the phone. She knows that sigh. Roy Montgomery is about to wash his hands of the Beckett/Castle issue and move back to the original reason for his call.

"Castle, Kate Beckett has never stayed the course in any relationship, like I said before. Be the exception, Rick, give her time."

The words fly out of Castle's mouth. "How much time? It's been 3 years. If anything were going to happen it would have happened by now."

She wanted to take the words back but it was too late. She'd only said what she thought Castle would say if he were here instead of in some kind of Limbo. _Or dead._

"I suppose it depends, Rick, on how invested you are in this relationship. I know it hurt you to see her with Demming and then with the Doc, especially after the freezer incident. You had to have been terribly hurt by her ignoring you and leaving with him but you still stayed the course when any other man would have waved the white flag and gone home for good."

"Uh_…" 'I really hadn't thought about Castle when Josh had wrapped me into his warm embrace. I thought maybe we had a chance because he'd blown off Haiti for me…'_

"…so I think you should reconsider your actions here, Rick…"

'_Reconsider what? I wasn't paying attention. Reconsider what?'_

"I take your silence to mean that you won't reconsider. Very well, Rick, but don't be a stranger. There are others here who value your presence and contributions. Don't be a bit surprised if Karpowski hits you up on shadowing her and her team. But either way, don't cut yourself off from us."

The Captain disconnected the call. She wondered what was in the damned letter he'd gone on about? Well, there was only one way to find out.

She went into 'his' study and turned on his laptop. His session hadn't ended normally and there was a dialogue box open asking if he wished to save the untitled document…she canceled the action and there it was…the letter.

"Dad, I made coffee and I'm outta here. Meeting Ash for breakfast. Dad? Dad!"

"Huh?"

"I said…" She'd heard the loud vomiting and his subdued voice on the phone. He'd fallen asleep with his bedroom door open. She couldn't help but overhear how sad and disappointed his voice had sounded when Beckett blew him off, again.

"Dad, look, it's none of my business but…"

"But what, Alexis?" She was still trying to absorb the letter. So much bitterness conveyed in so many short sentences. She could read between the lines.

"Dad, I think you should quit going to the precinct. The last weeks have been horrible around here. All you do is mope around, stare out the window of your study and…I think you need to just quit, Dad. It's not going to happen. It's been three years and Detective Beckett is never going to…"

"You're going to be late, Alexis. I'll see you when you get back, Pumpkin. I'm not feeling well and I think I'm just going to lay about this morning. Tell Ashley I said 'hi'."

Kate didn't want to have this conversation with Rick's daughter. First, it was personal and she didn't want to 'invade' his privacy. _Ha! I've handled his cock….How much more personal can it get? _ Secondly, _she_ didn't want to hear how Alexis seemed more aware of the problems they'd been having than _she_ was.

Kate heard Alexis leave, slamming the door on her way out. _Great! Now I've made her mad at Castle. Alexis is never angry with her father. They have the best relationship…_

* * *

Loft

Kate sat at the kitchen bar drinking black coffee with sugar. She'd made her usual with cream and almost gagged at the taste. Apparently her taste buds hadn't made the transference, just her habits. Castle drank his coffee black, with sugar.

She had printed out a copy of the letter and then saved the file and closed out the laptop. To her credit, she denied herself the guilty pleasure of reading any of the latest _Nikki Heat_ chapters that were in a file entitled _Infernal Heat__._ She felt bad enough about his shattered privacy as it was.

Kate had a brilliant idea. _I'll call myself. I'll explain what's happened and ask 'me' to apologize to 'Castle' so that at least we can talk about what's happened to us. God, that sounds so strange. Castle would have loved this. _


	6. Discovering Kate

RevSwitched6

I'm trying to keep Castle as comedic as possible while still keeping Kate in 'character' as much as this fic will allow. Bear with me if I slip.

Also, keeping the pronouns straight for each of the 'possessed' is driving me nuts so excuse the occasional mistake. Short, but I forgot about this in the hustle of real life.

Rep

* * *

Kate's Bath

Rick watched as the water cascaded from her raised leg as he gently soaped her calf and thigh. He pointed her toe at the ceiling and washed the leg with a soft cloth and marveled at her suppleness. He washed the other leg in the same manner and then, almost reverently, he washed her mons, slowly kneading the flesh with his fingertips through the soft cloth and gasping at the sudden pleasure he felt.

_Oh, I'm so going to enjoy bath time. _

Castle leaned back and closed her eyes. He was thinking of the couple (Ok, a lot) of times he'd made love to a woman in a bathtub, hot tub, Jacuzzi, or swimming pool. He couldn't kiss her neck, use his tongue to write words on her breasts, nip and suckle at her nipples or lightly nibble at her ears, or leave gentle love bites along the side or her neck and shoulder. Nope. This was all about bringing the skin to a new level of awareness, of creating arousal using only his fingertips and imagination.

The water had cooled slightly and no longer threatened to par boil her so he used the hot tub scenario as his basis.

He pulled Kate's knees up so that her feet were flat on the tub botton and parted her legs and let his fingers wander across her breasts, letting just the fingertips ghost over them and feeling a warmth spreading through her belly as he did so. He tweaked the nipples and felt a frisson of something in her center and smirked. _I figured that would get a response outta her…_

He slid his fingers down across her abdomen and let his fingers run through her closely trimmed pubic curls and shuddered. _Da-ammmmn…so soft…_

He felt embarrassed for a second but quashed the thought and allowed one fingertip to part her folds and run down her outer labia and hissed with pleasure when his thumb nudged her hooded clit. Emboldened, Rick slipped that single finger between the folds, past the labia and into her…_ Oh, man…warm and tight…not at all what I…oh, that's nice… _He moved his finger, buried to the 2nd knuckle, in slow circles and marveled at how her hips seemed to rise up and meet his gentle thrusts.

He brought his thumb down gently on her hooded clit and pressed it against her pubic bone and the response was incredible. He felt her walls clench around his finger. _So tight…_ He was startled when he sighed…surprised at the longing he heard.

He pulled a finger out and sucked on it, tasting her essence and smiling. _Sheer ambrosia. Hmmm, if I remember correctly, water is not the best lubricant even though it is wet…ergo…to the bedroom!_

He stood up and gazed down at Kate's body. He noticed that the legs were trembling slightly and that he felt a warm 'itch' (no other descriptor seemed to fit…a yearning? A need? A craving?) and decided to scratch it.

He was breathless in anticipation of further exploration and exploitation. He loved this woman, of that there was no doubt, but he also loved her body and since he was apparently doomed to inhabit it, he might as well learn the 'ins and outs' of it.

He wrapped her in a towel and sat on the bed and opened up her nightstand drawer looking for some moisturizer and…

_Eureka! Toys!_


	7. Kate's Voyage of Discovery and Parenting

RevSwitched7

This chapter is totally Kate's little voyage of discovery. Posted 6/26/2012

* * *

Castle's Loft  
Earlier in the day

She looked at the clock and tried to figure out just what 'she' would be doing about now and decided to postpone the call. Maybe…

Kate went into the study and opened up the laptop and clicked the mouse on the folder labeled _Infernal Heat_ and opened up the first chapter. It had been heavily edited and she smiled when she read the comments in MS Word that his editor, a new one, made. Some of them were funny and she could see why Castle liked his new editor. She had a wicked sense of humor.

By the time she finished the last chapter she found nothing funny about anything. Rook was leaving the Precinct to 'pursue other interests'. His rapport with Nikki was in the 'shitter' and the two spent more time sniping at one another than working together to solve cases.

The final scene in the novel brought tears to her eyes.

Rook had been gone almost a year and Nikki's life was empty without anyone to share the good and bad times with. She dated around but never found anyone who could keep up or put up with her for long. She still had her job and the occasional tryst but no one seemed good enough for her. She decided to swallow her pride and seek him out and beg him, if necessary, to try to work things out.

She was too late. While she had been wasting her time on one-night stands and empty relationships, Rook had found someone else. They were expecting their first child in the Spring.

Kate noted the time/date stamp on each entry and could see that the shift in tone matched the 'death spiral' that played out in real life.

Montgomery had been right all along.

* * *

It was almost noon and she had nothing to do so she decided to take a nap and then get up and make a special dinner for Alexis as a peace offering. Maybe Alexis could shed some light on why he'd thrown Nikki Heat under the proverbial bus.

The silken sheets felt wonderful on her skin and she fell asleep hoping that when she woke things would make more sense than they did now.

She was dreaming. She _had_ to be dreaming. It couldn't be…ohhh…

_The lips wrapped around his cock were soft and yet gripped him tightly as her head rose and fell on his shaft, slowly sucking him until she reached the head. The index finger and thumb of one hand had his cock in a tight grip and he bucked up as the lips moved down. A tongue swirled around the head and concentrated on the sensitive skin just below the crown and then…she hummmmmmmed and he was lost._

She woke up gasping for breath and trying to shake the dream. She'd just been on the receiving end of an incredible blowjob and…ugh…what the hell…?

She reached into the boxers she'd slept in and her fingers, okay _Castle's _fingers, encountered a sticky substance. _A wet dream? A sex dream? _

Kate sat up on the side of the bed and tried to get a handle on what had just happened. Sure, she'd given head but to be on the receiving end and to feel what must be his memories from deep in his subconscious…wow! Now she knew why guys pushed for head. Such a rush!

She stood up and stripped off the soiled silk boxers and put them in the clothes hamper and got into the shower. She could still feel phantom lips and tongue working on Castle's cock and got into the shower to wash off the results. _They say a guy thinks about sex once ever 10 minutes…no wonder!_

_I wonder who it was that left such a lasting impression on him? Probably one of his damned fangirls or Gina…yeah, probably Gina. She looked like the type that could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch…crap…what am I doing? _

She was slowly stroking his cock, not thinking about what she was doing while she was rehashing the dream. It was getting hard again and she was surprised at how quickly his body could recover from such an intense orgasm.

_Castle's ready for seconds a few minutes after the main event…amazing. Josh was good for one time and then he'd roll over and fall asleep sometimes leaving me to finish myself off. I'll bet Castle would keep on pounding away until I got off just to show off._

Kate adjusted the water temperature and sprayed his misbehaving penis like she'd use a water hose on a horny dog. She got out and dried his body and noticed something she'd never seen before – probably because he was always dressed around her.

Castle had a scar on his left thigh that could only be the result of a bullet wound. _I'll have to ask him about it – if he's ever back in his own body and not in some waystation between the Living and the Dead._

She glanced at the clock and smirked. Three o'clock already and she'd done nothing all day except piss off Alexis and root through Castle's computer files reading his latest novel…and taken a nap that had ended in an incredible experience…even if it was all in her mind.

_Not bad, all things considered._

* * *

She decided that the Castle Family would eat takeout and thus save her from the inevitable questions about 'why does this taste different than usual' or, far more likely, 'Daaad, you burnt it!' The kitchen was not Kate's domain.

_I wonder how things are going at the Precinct? I can't just call and ask. Castle is no longer welcome at the 12th thanks to me and my big mouth and short fuse and his hissy fit. Okay, there was nothing 'hissy' about it. Everything in that damned letter was true._

_Wait – Karpowski! The Captain did say she might call. I'll call the guys first and make sure it won't create a problem for them. My doppelganger's just going to have to live with it until I can figure out how to get things back to normal._

"Esposito." He answered in his usual manner. He glanced at the caller ID and waved to get Ryan's attention. He mouthed 'Castle' and listened to what the writer had to say.

"Javier, listen, Roy mentioned that Roselyn might ask me to shadow her since Beckett, uh, no longer desires my presence. I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't create a problem for you and Ryan."

"Nope. Things have been quiet around here, WriterBoy, since you absented yourself. Have you tried apologizing to her?"

"What? Me! I was right and she was wrong and…you know what? Forget it!"

Kate disconnected the call wondering if she'd laid it on a bit too thick. _He __was__ right and I might have been, uh, um, premature in dismissing his theories without a fair hearing._

* * *

Alexis pouted her way through dinner and then went upstairs to her room. Martha had yet to make an appearance and when Kate asked Alexis the pouting teen got huffy with her.

"She's old enough to be your mother, Dad. Think about it. She's 'out and about' and it's not like she's going to get pregnant or anything!"

"Alexis, don't talk to me that way. You know I have every right to be concerned because she _is_ my mother. Keep a civil tongue in your head, young lady."

"Fine!", she said as only a 17 year old can say and pounded up the stairs, stomping on each riser.

She glanced at the damned clock again. It was 7:30 and she'd managed to repeat the entire day in the past hour. Jesus, what a mess.

_Okay, first things first. _

She was about to learn if all those 'long talks' with her mom and dad when she'd been 17 and pitched a fit would work with Alexis like it did with her.

"Alexis Castle, get your butt down here!"


	8. Confrontations: AlexisJosh

RevSwitch8

* * *

Perspective: Kate in Rick's body has a melt-down over Alexis' disrespect. Sorry about the Fubar. Multitasking.

* * *

Castle's loft

"Yeah, Dad…what now?" The teen let the exasperation slip into her voice.

"First, don't ever talk to me that way again. You're 17 and have no business using that tone with any adult let alone your own father, understand?"

Not giving an inch and certainly not speaking, Alexis nodded, but didn't verbally agree.

_Was I this obnoxious when I was 17? Yep. I remember getting 'the lecture' and generally managed to tune the damned thing out by 'you're getting too big for your britches, young lady…'_

"Second, there's something going on here that I don't understand so suppose you, the source of my lack of understanding, tell me what the hell crawled up your ass and died!"

_Crap! She's not a coworker. She's Castle's daughter! I have to watch my mouth. Cops handle things on a different level._

Alexis was shocked at her father's language but not so much that she didn't understand that she'd pushed him too far. Maybe pushed him over the edge? She could see how white his knuckles were where they rested, wrapped around the wooden chair back.

"You're here but you're not here. I have entire conversations with you and you don't hear me. I feel like this thing with Beckett is stealing you away from the family. It's been going on for a month now and both Grams and I are tired of seeing you mope around. Jesus, Dad, just tell her how you feel, listen to her response, and if it isn't what you need to hear, give up and find someone else to love." Alexis had been, for her, unusually blunt.

"I won't be going back to the 12th unless another detective asks me to. I'm not shadowing Beckett any longer. We had words and she threw me out. As for talking to her…not going to happen."

"Oh. I see. So that's why you went on a bender last night? I could hear you barfing all over the place. You need to cut back on the booze, Dad, before both you and Grams end up in Detox at some celebrity rehab clinic."

"That still doesn't excuse your language and lack of respect. And I'll talk to your grandmother and tell her how worried you are about her drinking. As for mine…I'll keep it in check. Last night won't happen again. And I'll try and be 'here' more when I am here, OK?"

"We'll see." She wasn't budging an inch. Promises were made to be broken, even by her dad.

"OK, that's enough. I told you I would try. Suppose I just grounded you until the school year was over, would that be fair?"

"Dad! You can't do that! I have…things to do…"

"But I'm supposed to change overnight? I have things going on in my life that make your petty little squabbles with Ash or Paige seem totally unimportant but I don't expect you to ignore those issues, do I? No. So cut me some slack, Alexis. I'll do what I said I'll do."

Alexis threw herself at her father and hugged him and bawled. She was shocked but not surprised when she thought about it. Castle did have an amazing daughter and he always deflected any compliments about his ability as a father. He was a great Dad and Alexis was the proof.

* * *

Beckett's apartment

Castle had discovered a treasure trove of sex toys in Beckett's nightstand drawer and was grinning like an idiot.

He took out a small vibrator and twisted the base and was startled by the soft hum and the vibrations. He turned it off and set it aside and went back to inventorying Beckett's Drawer of Earthly Delights as he'd termed it.

Castle was humming softly under his breath when there was a knock at the door followed by her cell phone ringing.

He grabbed the cell and said, "C-Beckett," and fumbled with the towel wrap and slipped on the silk kimono robe he found lying across the foot of the bed.

"Yo, Beckett, got another empty husk for ya…this one's almost across the street from ya." He gave her the address and then disconnected the call. Whoever was at the door was impatient and Castle tossed Beckett's phone onto the bed and padded out into the living room to get the door.

"Josh? What do you want? I have a crime scene to get to." From the look on his face, her boyfriend wasn't a happy camper at all.

"Dressed like that? I don't think so, Katie." There was something about his voice that made Kate's skin crawl and Castle knew that something bad had happened between the doctor and Beckett.

"I just got out of the tub to take the call from Esposito. Look, whatever it is you want, we'll talk about it later. I'll text you and we can meet for lunch or something. I really have to get dressed and get going." He pulled the robe more tightly around her body. The damp spots caused the robe to cling to places that Josh seemed fascinated with.

"Yeah, text me. That's about your style. Just so you know, Katie, I'm on to you and your writer friend. I asked you to move in with me or move on and you told me all about some fight with Castle. It's always about Castle. Castle this and Castle that. I'm sick of playing second fiddle to your…"

"Josh, out. I have to go. You'd be out of here in a heartbeat if you got a page. It's no different with me. And for your information, I threw Castle out of the Precinct a few days ago for doing just what you're doing so keep on pushing and you'll be missing in action, too."

"I want an answer, Kate. I need to know. If we're moving forward, moving in together, I need to know. I made a promise but I'll break it for us. I won't go to Africa. I'll stay here but you have to be 'here', too, understand? I'll expect a text from you before too damned long."

He spun on his heel and left, slamming the door on the way out.

Castle breathed a sigh of relief and then hurried to dress 'Kate' and get to the crime scene. The lights and siren were going to get a workout tonight. He was running really late.

_Beckett's life is sure stressful_.


	9. Another Day Another Body

RevChapter9

* * *

Crime Scene

It _was_ almost across the street from Beckett's apartment. He got out of the cruiser and ignored the looks he got from the patrolmen who'd responded to the first call. Beckett's hair was in a hasty bun at the back of her head and tendrils kept escaping to frame her face.

He'd dressed in a hurry and it showed. She was wearing jeans and a NYPD hoodie and tennis shoes. No makeup and low maintenance was the official 'Beckett look' at this time of night.

"Espo, whatcha got?" He tried to keep her professional demeanor despite the casual clothes.

"Phillip Ryan, PhD, 44, divorced, lives alone in the high-security apartment building across the street. Lanie figures he's been dead about 4 hours and, of course, there are no 'bodily fluids' so the murder occurred elsewhere, of course, and there are two longitudinal slashes on his neck, of course, and there are the raspberry suction impressions around the wounds, of course."

"Esposito, shit-can the attitude. I know what you're _not_ saying, _of course_, and unless you want to be on desk duty for the next 10 weekends, and holidays, _of course_, just stick with the facts and editorialize later, OK?"

"Um, uh, OK. Look, we're nowhere on this. This is victim #4 and we have nada. I think we need to run this whole scenario by Castle. I'll do it if you're too damned proud to suck it up and apologize. We need something to go on, Beckett, and so far we got bodies and lab reports but nothing else."

"Where's Kevin?" He looked around for the other half of Mutt & Jeff but didn't see him.

"He's across the street canvassing the neighbors. The apartment's locked and the door is heavy gauge steel and the super is out of town until tomorrow. I got ESU sending over a cracker to open the door for us. He should be here any time now."

"So, Beckett, did we interrupt something interesting?" Lanie smirked as she looked over Kate's less-than professional attire.

"Yeah. A long soak in a steaming hot tub with the lights off and candles lit and aroma therapeutics in the water and Barry White and Lionel Ritchie on the Bose. Esposito called and then the 'dickhead', Josh, showed up and demanded I decide right then and there about moving in together. So yeah, the whole fucking world's interrupting me!"

* * *

He crawled into bed at a little before 2am, grateful for the respite but dreading the next morning. They were no closer to getting a lead on the Vampire. Maybe it would take a blood bank robbery to give them a lead.

He woke up at 5am. He'd had a dream of a man robbing a blood bank and drinking from the cold plastic bags and curling up his face in delight.

_A dream is your subconscious's way of answering a question you never knew you asked. Thank you, Fox Mulder!_

He showered, took his time getting her makeup on right, once again the Battle of the Brassiere was lost and ended up with Kate going braless. He pulled on a turtleneck shirt and jeans and her boots and then remembered the hair and pulled it back into a brushed-out ponytail and left for the precinct. He had an idea.

He went and got coffee and ran into Demming on the way out of the break room.

"Hey, Beckett. Looking good as usual. I don't suppose you're dumped the Doc, have you? I really think we made a great couple, Katie, despite our differences and I really want to give us another chance."

"Uh, Tom, I'm still with Josh. We're trying to work things out. We both live busy lives and I want to see if this can work. Sorry, Tom. Look, I got an idea I need to work up and take to the ME. I'll see ya around."

_Shit! What's next, Will from the FBI showing up to blow up her skirt with his smooth bullshit? Jesus, give her some breathing room._

Castle couldn't wait to get back to Beckett's apartment and inventory Kate's Drawer of Earthly Delights. He'd been antsy and jumpy all day because he couldn't get his mind off some of the paraphernalia he'd glanced at.

_Oh, Kate, you're a baaad girl. 'Wild Child', indeed._

"Hey, Beckett, got a minute?" Roselyn Karpowski plopped her plump ass into Castle's chair.

"Sure, what's up?" _Don't ask. Don't ask. Don't ask._

"I want Castle shadowing me and my partner. The Captain said it was OK with him but I figure I got to get the OK from the Mistress." Then in a serious tone, she continued. "Seriously, Kate, I don't want to create a problem for anyone so if you think it's a bad idea for whatever reason, I won't call him back."

"Back? He called _you?_" He tried to settle into an I-don't-care-attitude but failed. "Fine with me, Ros, if you can handle his bullshit." _Professional and personal all in the same sentence. God, I really am the master._

"Oh, Kate, I've been handling people like Castle my entire life. You just gotta grab them by the balls when they misbehave, give them a gentle squeeze, and they behave." Castle resisted the urge to cross Kate's legs in subconscious horror.

Rose leaned over conspiratorially. "Between you and me, I hope he misbehaves a lot. I can't wait to get my hands on him. Guys like him need a little rough-and-tumble in their lives and I'm just the girl who likes it rough and not too proud to take the tumble."

Karpowski stood up, smiled at Beckett and then made her way back to her own area of the squad room.

_**I **called her back? Oh, shit! Maybe it's time to give old Beckett-in-another-body a call and try and figure out what the hell's happened and how to get back to normal. Not tonight though. I got research to conduct and data to compile._

Castle beckoned the guys over to the murder board and quietly talked about his theory. The guys were surprised that 'Beckett' had come up with a 'Castlesque' theory but were eager to follow any lead by now, even something as off-the-wall as this.

They needed to find out if any of the victims were regular blood donors.


	10. Private Files and a Private Moment

RevSwitched10

Roselyn Karpowski called Castle back and told him that the 'coast is clear' and that she expected to see him bright and early in the morning…about 10ish…and she had laughed when 'Castle' had asked what her favorite pastry was and how she took her coffee. She didn't want things to seem out of kilter and Castle would be the gentleman about things, thus the inquiry.

"Rick, I'm on a diet and I like the coffee here at the Precinct. I'm low maintenance so just drop on by when you feel like it. We've got something that you'll like: a model killed at a fashion show by poisoned makeup. Right up your alley, Writer Man."

Karpowski's comments upset Kate on several levels. First, she said she was on a diet. The last time she'd gone on a diet had been when she was fucking the new guy from Narcotics. Second, her 'low maintenance' comment was a dig at her, Beckett, for her specific coffee needs. And third, she'd called him Writer _MAN_ instead of Writer _BOY_ and that just pissed her off.

The final straw was when Karpowski had called him 'Rick'. It was…unprofessional to use first names in the Precinct. It was tradition. It was…

_It was my way of letting Castle know where he belonged and also of keeping it purely professional._

Alexis was out with Ashley and Martha was just 'out' and she wondered how Castle handled his mother when she did show up. She knew Martha drank and that it had become a more frequent habit as roles went to younger women and what roles did come her way were for aging dowagers or old hookers and the like.

_We all get old. We all face the day when we finally have to face facts – we're old. Well, not Castle, of course. He's living proof that you have to grow old but you can stay immature forever. It was one of the things I lo –_

If her mind had jaws, the neighbors would have heard them slam shut. _No fucking way_!

* * *

12th Precinct

"Beckett, how'd you know?" Ryan was standing at her desk and interrupted Castle's train of thought.

"Huh? Oh, Ryan! Back already? How'd I know what?"

"Went over to LifeShare and schmoozed one of the clerks there with 'me Irish charm' and got lucky. All four were regular donors and all four had the rarest blood type on earth: AB-. Less than 1% of humans have this blood type and it's in high demand by other AB Negative types and can cost over $600 a _pint!"_

"I don't suppose your Irish charm extended to getting a listing of all the other AB Negative donors, did it?"

He knew Kevin would pursue the lead relentlessly. Esposito got the calls and was the muscle but Kevin Ryan was the researcher and 'digger'. He could ferret out information from a computer database that no one else could find or make connections.

"Does the proverbial bear defecate in the woods?" He smiled so Castle knew he'd got the list.

"Just answer the question, Kevin, and leave the crap in the forest. Did you get the list?" _So Beckett-like. I got her down to a T. _

"Boss, I also got a name for us to look at. Shelly Fontana was recently fired for 'mismanagement' of blood supplies. It seems that Ms. Fontana 'lost' several pints of…may I have a drum roll?" Castle rolled his eyes in Beckett-fashion while Esposito 'drum rolled' on her desk.

"AB Negative. The entire stock." He smiled and waited for it…4…3…2…1.

"The entire stock? When? Damn it, Ryan, I'm not a dentist and I don't like pulling teeth! Spit it out!"

"Two weeks before our first drained victim was found. Seems the shelf life of blood isn't all that long and that's why they have these blood drives…"

Castle scanned the list and set the guys on the phones to locate each of the 16 known donors on the list and ask them to 'stop by for a chat'. These people formed a potential victim pool and needed to be 'warned'.

"Esposito, call the judge and get a warrant so we can go over Ms. Fontana's phone and financial records. Kevin, dig out what you can on her. Once we get the goods on her, let's go visit her and see…if she has fangs."

The guys laughed. Beckett rarely lightened up and when she did it was invariably with a 'Castle-ism'.

* * *

Loft

Beckett was bored. She didn't feel like watching a movie or even taking a nap. She walked into Castle's office, took his laptop from the desk and sprawled across his leather couch and made himself comfortable. She laid the laptop on his stomach and opened it up and started reviewing the folders on his desktop display.

She opened up the folder entitled simply 'edited/deleted' and smirked. It was Castle's list of scenes from chapters that had been heavily edited or deleted. She opened the first file and started reading, ignoring the comments the editor had added.

The first file was a rather disjointed conversation between Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook and she could see why it had been deleted. It rambled on without intent.

The second file was merely a description of a crime scene and she couldn't remember anything like it in any of his books. She clicked on the comments and read that his editor (Gina?) thought it was 'obviously contrived to meet one of your UFO/Alien Abduction fetishes'. She laughed to herself. She wasn't the only one who thought that every crime seemed to be tied to Aliens or the CIA.

The third file was gold. It was a scene between Rook and Nikki. They were in a bathtub and Rook had Nikki lying on him, her legs splayed open, one arm wrapped around his neck, their cheeks touching. Rook's erect cock was deep within her and she was whispering filthy things in his ear, begging him for release but he just laughed at her saying 'you made the bet, now let's see who wins'. He lightly stroked her back and then reached down and cupped her ass cheeks and lifted her off him. She whimpered that he wasn't playing fair but stopped when he slid down further into the tub and pushed her upwards so that his mouth could assault her clit, sucking on it and slipping two fingers into her hot center and fucking her until she moaned, her muscles clenching at his fingers, and then shivered and whispered his name….'_Oh, Rook…'_.

"I won, Nik. You cook dinner."

Kate read the entire segment and felt Castle's cock straining against the confines of his jeans. It was definitely uncomfortable and Beckett unbuttoned and then unzipped his jeans and smiled at the relief she felt. She slipped her fingers under the edge of the elastic waist band and down until she could 'straighten' things out.

Unconsciously his fingers sought out the base of his cock and began stroking upwards, rubbing a thumb over the head and spreading the precum over it. It felt nice and she saw nothing wrong with giving in to to the arousal she felt. She stroked its length up and down and smiled when she felt how wet and slick the head and her palm became.

_I wonder how many times Castle's lain here doing just this and thinking about…me?_

That seemed to trigger an increase in arousal and she could feel his heart beat in the veins of his rigid shaft as she stroked his cock. She imagined how it would feel to have this thickness between her legs and how she just knew he'd insist on going down on her and eating her before actually fucking her. If she knew Castle's ego, he'd want her calling out for him to 'just fuck me, Castle, pleeeease' before he'd give her what she craved.

The suddenness of his orgasm surprised her as thick spurts of his semen shot up and over her hand. She was almost breathless with the feelings she was experiencing although it was nothing like the dream blowjob.

She licked her fingers clean and smiled. It tasted exactly as she'd expected – and then she realized what she'd thought and shook her head – his head – and wandered off to take a shower and change clothes. One thing she knew for certain - she intended to read more of Rook's tortures of poor Nikki Heat.

_They never made it into the book. I wonder why not?_


	11. Deadlines and Decisions

I'm heading out to earn some loot so it'll be a bit of time before I post again. Thanks for reading my demented and perverted crap.

Reparata

* * *

RevSwitched11

Beckett's apartment

He slid into the hot bathtub and sighed. _Christ, what a day!_

Shelly Fontana had proven elusive. First Judge Markham decided to be a 'civil libertarian' and refuse a warrant despite all the circumstantial evidence justifying a warrant. No amount of pleading seemed to work and so Montgomery cashed in some political capital and got them a warrant from another judge who was concerned more for the victims than the criminal.

Then it was almost impossible to find out a single thing about Ms. Fontana's finances. She didn't exist. Bogus information on her employment application. The social security number belonged to some old geezer in Delaware and the telephone number given was a pay phone in a Laundromat.

Following those discoveries, they visited her apartment but the address provided was a parking lot between two apartment buildings. On a hunch, the boys took one building and Beckett took the other. Beckett (Castle) had no luck but the guys hit pay dirt of sorts. The building super confirmed that 'Ms. Fontana has lived here 4 months and is an excellent tenant, paying her rent in cash and never being a problem'. He gave them a key and…

She'd been dead at least 2 days, a single bullet to the back of her head had ended her life. Her apartment had been ransacked and her hard drive was gone from her computer, her cell phone SIM card was missing and every piece of paper with her name on it was gone.

Lanie had promised an ID from prints 'if she's in the system' and they'd returned to the Precinct empty handed and frustrated. Castle sent them home after reporting to Roy with their meager findings.

And now the hot bath soothed away the frustrations of the day although two glasses of wine helped a lot.

He had just finished washing her hair and was towel-drying it when her cell trilled and he cursed. _Not another damned body? _

It was Josh. _Shit, I forgot to text him. I don't need this shit. I have no idea what Beckett wants to do!_

"I'm leaving for Cameroon tomorrow. I figured you'd blow me off rather than risk a confrontation. Look, I'll be gone a month, six weeks at the most. When I get back, I need to know where we're going, Katie."

"Josh, I'm so sorry about today. I got involved in the weirdest case and…"

"Weird? Something that appeals to your 'dark side', Katie? Oh, I'll bet you've got your freaky stuff out. Too bad my plane leaves so damned early or I'd come over and help you get your 'freak on'. I know how much you love it when I fuck your mouth. You really get off on it. And you love the way I suck the juices out of your pussy and then share them…are you wet, Katie? Are you fingering yourself?"

"Josh…I…" _Jesus! I do not need to hear this. I don't want to hear this. I don't want the image in my brain of her…_

"Breathing kinda hard there, Katie. I'll bet you're thinking about how I filled all your holes the last time…remember? God, you were so loud and I thought for sure the neighbors would call the cops. Are you thinking about what's in the box beneath your bed, Katie? Thinking about how hard I am and how much you want to suck me off right now?"

He laughed and it wasn't a nice laugh, not at all.

"I'll want an answer when I get back. Hell, who else can put up with your freakiness? Move in with me. We're perfect for each other." Again he laughed and again Castle wondered just how much he really knew Kate Beckett.

Castle remembered once when he'd been particularly pointed in his comment about how she must be a freak…and she'd whispered so softly in his ear…_'Oh, Castle, you have no idea'._

"Think about it, Katie. I'll see you when I get back." He ended the conversation leaving Castle speechless.

Castle stared at the phone disbelievingly. He wasn't able to comprehend how his Kate would…no, he didn't really know her at all.

He cursed as he realized that his emotions – Kate's emotions – were bringing tears to his eyes. He felt – disappointed in Kate - but he also felt saddened, like when you realize that Santa is a myth and that your Mom bought your Christmas presents or that your parents were human after all.

It felt worse than…yeah, worse than when Meredith told him she was leaving him for someone who could give her what she 'needed' in life but that there was no room in her 'new life' for a kid. Thank God his mother had been between acting jobs. He was in the hospital with a broken leg and she was watching Alexis. He'd cried then but he steeled his heart and refused to cry now.

Beckett had a life and he wanted no part of it. He had to get back to where he belonged and he was determined to figure out just what the hell had happened and what he had to do to get back to himself and his family. Beckett would just have to fend for herself.

He ignored the nightstand drawer and the mysterious box under the bed. The last thing he wanted or needed was to think about what Josh had said to Beckett on the phone. Castle knew he never stood a chance with her. She was in a league of her own.

He locked up the apartment and turned out the lights and crawled into bed. Her bed, not his. Their bed, Kate's and Josh's. He grabbed a blanket and pillow and went out and slept on the couch.

The next morning, Rick dressed Kate in a very demure outfit and he'd finally figured out how to put on a brassier without dislocating a shoulder. He had suddenly remembered Gina slipping one on and he tried it and damn! It worked. He felt quite foolish but figured it wasn't something he'd really needed to know…until now.

Rick sat at Kate's desk reviewing the stack of cold cases sitting in her in-box. After all the time spent watching Beckett and from his own years-old training, he had the routine down and was fast dispensing with paperwork almost as fast as Kate would have.

There wasn't much difference between the CHP and the NYPD. Bureaucrats were bureaucrats the world over. Hell, cops in Beijing probably filled out the same forms.

Roselyn Karpowski came over and plopped down in his old chair. Rick pretended to ignore her but noted the false eyelashes and (for Roselyn) far better-than-usual makeup job. Her outfit displayed the fact that she was abundantly mammalian and her skirt was shorter than she normally wore, displaying more thigh than normal. She was on the prowl.

'_Poor Beckett. Now she's going to learn what I put up with on bad days._

But then he remembered the conversation with Josh and had the feeling that Roselyn might be in for more than she could handle. He just hoped that Beckett kept her 'dark side' in check. He did have a reputation to maintain.

"Morning, Beckett. Just wanted to tell ya that Rick's coming in around 10am and I just wanted to be sure that you weren't going to create any problems with him being here." Her big brown eyes bored into Kate's green ones and Castle smirked at her attempt to intimidate Beckett.

"Ros', I told you yesterday that I was fine with it. Just don't come running to me or the Captain if you end up with pinch marks on your ass and I don't want to hear about any slap & tickle in the elevators either."

"Okay. Just making sure you don't make things uncomfortable for Rick like you did at the Museum when you two had 'words'." She made 'air quotes' using her fingers and Castle almost laughed in her face. That move was so old and looked so childish from her.

"Nope. He's all yours." He turned back to her paperwork, dismissing the other homicide detective. Inside he was laughing at the situation. 'Rick' was about to meet up with a horny Karpowski after Beckett had all but invited her to anticipate his sexual aggression.

He knew Karpowski from comments Ryan (reluctantly) and Esposito (with great glee) had laid on Castle before he had followed the other detective one time on a case.

"Don't let her get you anywhere near a closet. Or in an elevator alone. Or a stairwell," Esposito had informed him, making rude gestures with his tongue.

Ryan had added "And for the love of God, Castle, if you do end up in an elevator even with others, don't stand in front of her. She'll grab your ass and squeeze it while rubbing herself all over you. Man, I smelled like cooze for the rest of the day…"


	12. Telling Alexis the Truth Hurts

RevSwitched12

Castle's loft

Alexis bounced down the steps from her bedroom already dressed for a Saturday filled with nothing at all to do. Kate was standing at the stove top, finishing up their breakfast.

"Perfect timing. Sit and prepare to be filled with savory breakfast goodness." She smirked knowing that she sounded exactly like Castle.

"Dad, I don't have a lot of time…" She stopped when Kate dropped the plate in front of her. Two pancakes, a scrambled egg and four strips of bacon greeted her in the form of a smiley face and she giggled in appreciation.

Kate sat down opposite her and grinned. She'd made the right decision and felt it was time to discuss the 'change' in their lives.

She just hoped that Alexis wouldn't freak out and run screaming for the men in white coats to come take her crazy father away.

Alexis took a bite of pancake and looked up at her 'father' and said, "wow, Dad, these are really good. I taste something different, a _good_ different…" she was quick to add.

Kate took a deep breath and said, "My mother used to make them for us like this. The secret ingredients are cinnamon, vanilla and just a dash of sugar in the batter."

"Grams? Grams cooked?" There was an incredulous look on the teen's face.

"No, Alexis. _My _mom. Johanna Beckett."

The next 10 minutes were very 'exciting' for the both of them. Alexis would put any interrogator at the Precinct to shame with her probing questions, penetrating follow-ups and unhesitating disbelief.

"Im-fucking-possible!" She'd slapped her hands to her mouth, not believing what had just popped out. Kate had taken her to task for language 'unbecoming to a young lady and certainly not one as well-raised as she was'.

"Fine. Tell me this and don't hem and haw. What tampons do you use?" She leaned back on the bar stool, arms crossed as if to say, 'Ha! Gotcha now, ya big liar!'

"Playtex Gentle Glide. They come 18 in a box – 9 for heavy flow days and 9 for the rest." Now it was her turn to smirk. It hadn't been a question she'd anticipated but her answer was prompt and correct.

"Holy crap! You _are_ Kate! Uh, about what I said…"

"It was the truth. You father and I…well, it's complicated. I do have feelings for him and I know he's nuts about me but I'm afraid of him, Alexis, afraid of being hurt by him. He knows so little about Kate Beckett whereas his life's an open book. Maybe moving on is the right thing for him to do."

She was definitely Castle's daughter. She transited from amazed at the situation presented to angry with Kate, despite her appearance.

"So you're just going to keep on running away from him, going from one guy to the next until he finally realizes that you're afraid of a commitment to anyone or anything! You don't deserve my dad and he doesn't need to be wasting his time on someone who won't give herself to him as he will to her. You know _nothing_ about my father, Beckett. Nothing at all – just what you read on a book jacket!"

She turned and fled up the stairs to her bedroom, 17 again, falling back into the only posture she felt comfortable with.

Beckett sighed, cleaned off the breakfast wreckage and then started the dishwasher. She glanced at the clock and grimaced. She had less than an hour to get to the precinct. _I hope things go easier with Castle than they did with Alexis. So much damned drama…_

Castle's Loft

"Alexis, I'm leaving now. Please, please try and understand my position here. I'm trying to do what's right for all of us, Lexie. And I'm trying to figure out why I'm still 'me' and why I'm also 'your father'." She was talking to a locked door and a crying teen. Not the best combination for meaningful communication.

Sighing heavily, she left for the precinct. '_Could today get any better?' _she asked herself, sarcastically.

Traffic was light and she got to the 12th a little before 10am. She dressed 'down' because it was Saturday, and was wearing a cobalt blue Polo shirt and gray Sansabelt slacks and loafers. A dark brown distressed leather jacket completed his 'look' and she smiled to herself in the mirrored elevator door. _Castle does look ruggedly handsome._

Which is _exactly_ what Detective Karpowski thought as she watched Castle step out of the elevator.

Castle still sat at Kate's desk finishing up the paperwork and waiting for someone to bring any additional information on Shelly Fontana. She'd gone from suspect to victim in the blink of an eye and the pop of a 9mm pistol.

Castle glanced at the murder board and weighed the various facts of the case in mind looking for a clue or connection that might have been missed. Frustrated, he got up to get another cup of Kate's coffee and almost walked right into his body.

"Excuse me, Detective Beckett, but I was wondering if I might speak with you later?" Kate couched her request in open terms, trying to _be_ Castle and hoping that her real self would agree. She knew that sometimes she could be almost irrationally stubborn.

"Not interested. Have fun with Karpowski." He didn't want to speak with her just yet – not until his emotions settled and he could deal with her persona of Detective Beckett _only._ He had no desire to discuss anything with 'Kate'.

"Castle, wait, please…" It was confusing calling herself 'Castle' but she hoped it might stop 'her' and make her at least wonder what he meant.

Castle shook off her arm and walked back to her desk. It was too soon to openly communicate about their predicament. He wanted her to know the feeling of being the outsider, being reduced to _step 'n fetchit_, and being taken to task in public for being _right._

It was petty and it was mean but his feelings had been hurt and he was not above such feelings where Kate Beckett was concerned. He was done with trying to win her over. She had whatever it was she had with Josh and her commitment phobia was evident in their conversation so apparently it wasn't just _him, _Richard Castle, it was any man who desired a relationship.

Feeling superior and smug for a moment he turned back to her case files. He didn't see the look of confusion on Castle's face or the sense of hurt in his eyes. If he had, things might have turned out differently.

But he hadn't.


End file.
